What do you think a mix of a classically trained ex-opera singer, politically charged lyrics and dark rock sounds like? Probably not Emily Danger, but I can assure you, all of the ingredients are there and then some. This incredible Brooklyn-based band takes “dark cabaret rock” – a genre that you will want to spread like wildfire – to lengths you didn’t think were possible.
I chatted with the amazing Emily Danger herself, and I sat in awe as I unraveled more and more about the awesome feminist musician. Read More

I first got stoked on post-punk DC band Priests when I heard “USA (Incantations)” off their EP Tape Two. It’s less of a song than it is a spoken word statement that outlines exactly how our country was wrongly built upon a constitution designed solely by rich, white, landowning men. The narrator recites facts and statistics that demonstrate how the US is built upon a false idea of freedom and fairness, yet popular culture and public education reinforces the opposite sentiment. Priests cleverly dub this “he hit me and it felt like a kiss logic. Read More

"Just Won't Do" is the softly sassy, acoustic premier track from trio Wise Girl's newest EP, Sing Me to Sleep.
The band is fronted by Abby Weitz, whose pop vocals carry off Wise Girl's bubblegum rock sound perfectly. She's part Taylor Swift, part Liz Phair, and her flat-ironed hair is dyed a purply auburn. "Just Won't Do" might sound cloyingly sweet, like many other pop tunes where a female singer pines for her lover and tries to cajole him into returning her affections, but Weitz has flipped the script. Give "Just Won't Do" a listen here. Read More

Although Electric Order is only four songs long, it feels like it could be a full album. That’s because Atomic Bride takes you on a rollercoaster of super high energy garage rock with fun pop hooks mixed in for good measure. On this EP, the Seattleites create a weird blend of wild psychedelia fully charged with fuzzy electricity.
During leading track “Electric Order” you’ll undergo alien abduction and like it, as dual vocalists Astra Elane and Chris Cool cosmically chant, “Now you are bound by electric order!” like some strange celestial beings. Read More

You Me & Us have a knack for making classic pop songs with a refreshingly rough edge. The Palm Springs, CA trio put a lo-fi spin on their signature noise-pop stylings to create their latest EP Stay Inside. Listening to the sweetly-sung, Jenny Lewis-esque vocals, distorted guitars, and reverb-filled melodies reminds me of a summer day spent lounging around because it's too hot outside and you'd rather just fuck around, listening to records. Read More

Hailing from New Zealand, producer/songwriter/singer Janine creates music designed to take you through her narrative on her Dark Mind EP.
In the five tracks, Janine seems to switch between two sides of melancholy with her originality and her vocals. While “Hold Me” and “Bullets” sound like tracks I’ve heard before, “Let It Run,” “Little Bit,” and “Dark Mind” are surprising and ones I’ll be putting on repeat. Read More

Indie-folk powerhouse Laura Stevenson may have been taunting you with the promise of upcoming album Wheel, but now she's given a little taste-tester to hold you over. Former Bomb the Music Industry! keyboardist Laura Stevenson has put together Runner, a three-song 7” that gives us the best of both worlds: upbeat, pop jams and quieter, piano-heavy ballads. The first single off Wheel, “Runner,” builds an infectious energy and contains the catchy hook that’ll have you humming, “this summer hurts” to yourself for the rest of the day. Read More

If you ever get a chance to see Big Freedia live, do not hestitate. Go. The bounce artist and butch-queen gives the most amazing live show I’ve ever seen. The audience danced so hard, you had to scrape ass off the floor. The New Orleans artist performs a spin-off of the popular down-south genre bounce, coined Sissy Bounce by the media. Sissy bounce incorporates fierce and fabulous queer performance and gender-bending in to he booty-shaking and bass dropping hip-hop of New Orlean’s bounce genre. Read More